Pioneers Lose Pair to No. 7 UW-Whitewater

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville and No. 7 UW-Whitewater combined to hit seven home runs in a WIAC doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at the UW-Platteville softball complex. The visiting Warhawks swept the twinbill from the host Pioneers, 7-6 and 8-2.

The second two-run home run of the game by Paige Evangelista of UW-Whitewater was just enough to lead the visiting Warhawks to a 7-6 win over the Pioneers in game one. Before the game could be decided, UW-Platteville entered the seventh inning with a 7-5 deficit.

With one out, the Pioneers' Ellyn Goerdt walked and she moved to third on a Colleen Lowe single to right center. With the runners on the corners, Molly Rice singled to left field to score Goerdt and move pinchrunner Cassandra Bonin to second. The hit forced a UW-Whitewater pitching change, and then Audrey Gronen walked to load the bases. However, then, the Warhawks' reliever Bekka Houda got a strikeout and a ground out to end the contest.

Earlier in the game, Evangelista put UW-Whitewater ahead in the first inning on her first two-run homerun of the game. The Pioneers tied it in the third on a two-run roundtripper by Chantal McReynolds. UW-Platteville went ahead 3-2 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by McReynolds.

The Pioneers stretched the lead to 5-2 on a two-run home run by Goerdt in the fifth inning; however, the Warhawks quickly tied it when Laura Eichenold hit a three-run shot in the top of the sixth. With the game, tied at 5, in the seventh, Evangelista hit her second two-run homerun of the game that proved to be the difference, despite the heroics by the Pioneers in the bottom half of the inning.

In the night cap, the Warhawks pounded out 16 hits, nine of which came from the top four in the order. UW-Platteville shortstop Chantal McReynolds had two of the six hits for UW-Platteville in the loss.

UW-Whitewater took a 1-0 lead in the first but that lead was quickly erased on a solo home run by the Pioneers' Audrey Gronen in the second inning to tie the game at 1. The Warhawks regained the lead in the fourth with a run and they added to their lead with three more in both the sixth and seventh.

The Pioneer offense was limited to a solo home run by Colleen Lowe in the sixth, in the loss. UW-Whitewater starter Bekka Houda went the distance to raise her record to 8-2, she struck out five and scattered six hits.

The two losses drops the Pioneers to 17-13 overall and 7-5 in the WIAC; whereas, the Warhawks improve to 23-5 and 6-0 in the WIAC. Next for the Pioneers is a WIAC doubleheader against UW-Oshkosh on Wed., April 25 at the UW-Platteville softball complex.